Administrative Assistant
Sylvia Barlow
905-688-5550, extension 4752
573 Glenridge 213
http://www.brocku.ca/greatbooks
The Centre for Great Books/Liberal Studies provides an opportunity for the exploration and discussion of those questions which arise when education is directed towards the freedom of the fully examined life.
Questions of human nature and purpose and of our relationship to the natural order, for example, are examined primarily through analysis and discussion of the great works of human reason and imagination.
The program seeks to develop the skills and habits of inquiry, analysis, argument and expression needed for a rigorous treatment of these questions.
The program is made up of a set of closely related core courses that are intended to provide an integrated liberal education, to be cumulative and to furnish the basis for an intellectual community of students and faculty. The Great Books/Liberal Studies Program must be either combined with a major in another discipline or taken as a minor. Students combining Great Books/Liberal Studies with a major concentration in Mathematics or Science will usually be exempted from the Science context requirement.
The focus of the program is the Great Books core seminars (GBLS 1F93, 1P90, 2P70, 2P94, 3P90, 3P93 and 4P10. Leaders for this seminar are drawn from a variety of disciplines and faculties of the University.
The other courses in the Great Books/Liberal Studies Program are intended both to provide for a kind of learning not possible in the seminar itself and also to enhance the quality and rigour of the inquiry and discussion that the seminar is intended to engender.
Each student in the program is assigned a faculty adviser for regular and incidental consultation. Students in year 4 are required to prepare a major essay on some aspect of Great Books/Liberal Studies, relating it to work in their other major, under the guidance of a faculty member.
A non-credit series of lectures supplements the Great Books/Liberal Studies Program. The lectures will illuminate the works and issues addressed in the program from a variety of perspectives. Students also attend concerts, art exhibitions and dramatic productions. Students are expected to attend the lectures and cultural events, since these constitute an integral part of the Great Books/Liberal Studies Program.

Students in the Centre for Great Books/Liberal Studies are required to complete one credit in a language other than English. Students completing the program to earn the Bachelor of Science degree are not required to do so but it is strongly recommended. Where half credit courses are used to satisfy this requirement, both half credits must be in the same language. Greek or Latin recommended.

PHYS 3P20 is offered in alternate years. A student in year 3 when PHYS 3P20 is not offered should take an additional one-half credit from GBLS courses listed in year 3, and one-half credit less from the GBLS courses listed under Year 4.

In all 20 credit degree programs, at least 12 credits must be numbered 2(alpha)00 or above, six of which must be numbered 2(alpha)90 or above and of these, three must be numbered 3(alpha)90 or above. In all 15 credit degree programs, at least seven credits must be numbered 2(alpha)00 or above, three of which must be numbered 2(alpha)90 or above.

Honours
Students may take a combined major in Great Books/Liberal Studies and a second discipline. For requirements in the other discipline, the student should consult the relevant department/centre. It should be noted that not all departments/centres provide a combined major option.

In co-operation with the Faculty of Business, the Centre for Great Books/Liberal Studies offers a combined major leading to a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Great Books/Liberal Studies and Business. This program is designed to provide students with the skills and knowledge demanded for successful leadership in business and a critical understanding of the intellectual forces that have shaped and still shape the world within which that leadership must be exercised. The program is intended for students with career interests involving business leadership and policy making, lifelong learning, social issue management or the management of creative organizations.
Year 1

In co-operation with the Department of History, the Centre for Great Books/Liberal Studies offers a combined major program in Great Books/Liberal Studies and History, especially for students wishing to combine a study of change over time focussing on the literary and cultural achievements of the past. A variety of combinations are possible; the following program is suggested for students interested in cultural history.

In co-operation with the Department of Music, the Centre for Great Books/Liberal Studies offers a combined major program in Great Books/Liberal Studies and Music. This program is designed especially for students interested in the interdisciplinary study of music; students will have the opportunity to consider music within the context of the great philosophical, literary and scientific works of our cultural tradition.

In co-operation with the Department of Political Science, the Great Books/Liberal Studies Program offers a combined major program in Great Books/Liberal Studies and Political Science. The Honours program is designed to furnish a liberal education especially for students with an interest in political philosophy, Canadian politics and law.
Year 1

Great Books/Liberal Studies can be combined with a concentration in Mathematics or Science. Students interested in this combination should consult the Director concerning their program and course selection.
Students who complete the combined Honours program in Great Books/Liberal Studies and Physics may earn the Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree depending upon whether the majority of their credits are in the Faculty of Mathematics and Science or the Faculty of Humanities. Students completing the program for the BA degree are deemed Humanities majors and are required to complete the language requirement as described above. Students completing the program to earn the BSc degree are not required to do so but it is strongly recommended. Context requirements for Great Books/Liberal Studies majors are deemed satisfied by successful completion of the program.

In co-operation with the Department of Physics, the Centre for Great Books/Liberal Studies offers a combined major program in Great Books/Liberal Studies and Physics. The Program will be of interest to students wanting to understand the most important ideas in the physical sciences within the context furnished through the reading and discussion of the major works of reason and imagination that have animated our cultural tradition. The program is flexible enough to accommodate students with varying interests.
Year 1

The Centre for Great Books/Liberal Studies also offers a Certificate in Great Books/Liberal Studies. It provides an overview for persons who may be interested in taking an integrated set of courses exploring several major scientific, philosophic and literary works but already have a degree in a different field or who do not wish to proceed to a degree. The admission requirements are the same as for the degree program. Prospective students should consult with the Director before beginning the certificate program.
The Certificate is awarded upon completion of the following courses with a minimum overall average of 60 percent:

Students in other disciplines can obtain a minor in Great Books/Liberal Studies within their degree program by successfully completing the following courses listed below with a minimum 60 percent overall average:

Students must check to ensure that prerequisites are met. Students may be deregistered, at the request of the instructor, from any course for which prerequisites and/or restrictions have not been met.
GBLS 1F93
Order and Chaos in the Cosmos
Important works of science, philosophy, literature and art addressing the origin and structure of the universe and its association with the divine. Readings include selections from the Bible, Lucretius, Plato, Artistotle, Copernicus, Galileo, Milton, Newton, Darwin, Einstein, Dawkins and Hawking.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in GBLS 2P93.
GBLS 1P90
Tradedy in Art, Literature and Philosophy
Introduction to liberal studies focussed on the theme of tragedy in works ranging from ancient Greek Dramas, political thought and literary theory to modern classics of literature, art and social science.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
GBLS 1P93
Great Books World Tour
Selections from the masterworks of world literature and thought, examining human nature from earliest times to the 20th century. Texts include selections from the Gilgamesh epic (perhaps the first written story), Plato, Confucius, Lady Murasaki's Tale of Genji (perhaps the first novel), Jonathan Swift, The 1001 Nights, Mao Zedong, Martin Luther King, Jr., Leacock, and short works by many Nobel Prize winners.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
#GBLS 1Q98
Introduction to Visual Culture
(also offered as IASC 1Q98 and VISA 1Q98)
Concepts of art, its vocabulary, structure and varied cultural contexts. Problems of meaning, visual perception and formal structure of the visual arts, functions of art in contemporary society, the function of galleries and museums, and the role of patrons and critics. Contemporary critical methodology.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours week.
Note: no studio work. Materials fee required. Students must take GBLS 1Q98 and 1Q99 to replace previous earned credit in GBLS 1F98.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in GBLS (VISA) 1F98.
#GBLS 1Q99
Introduction to the History of Western Art
(also offered as IASC 1Q99 and VISA 1Q99)
Analysis of key monuments and on the prerequisite technology, as well as on various ways of looking at the visual past and present. Focus on the visual arts from prehistory through the early 20th century.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours week.
Prerequisite: GBLS 1Q98 or permission of the instructor.
Note: no studio work. Materials fee required. Students must take GBLS 1Q98 and 1Q99 to replace previous earned credit in GBLS 1F98.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in GBLS (VISA) 1F98.
#GBLS 2P20
Abrahamic Religious Thought
(also offered as PHIL 2P20)
Roots of the monotheisms of Judaism, Christianity and Islam: Who and what is God- What is our relationship to God- What are the ethical bases of religion- What is the nature of faith.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: PHIL 1F90, 1F91, 1F92, 1F93 or 1F94.
GBLS 2P60
Art I: What is Art
Theories and debates in philosophy, literature, and dramatic criticism on the nature, function, and role of the arts (dramatic, musical, poetic, and visual) in society from the ancients to the 20th century.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
GBLS 2P70
Religions of the World
Development and character of major religious traditions and worldviews.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
#GBLS 2P80
Shakespeare 1590-1603
(also offered as ENGL 2P80)
Representative plays from the first half of Shakespeare's dramatic career emphasizing theoretical and cultural issues raised by the plays in the context of fin-de-siècle Elizabethan England.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: GBLS 1F90, one ENGL credit numbered 1(alpha)90 to 1(alpha)99 or permission of the instructor.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in GBLS (ENGL) 2F97 and 2Q92.
#GBLS 2P81
Shakespeare 1603-1614
(also offered as ENGL 2P81)
Representative plays from the second half of Shakespeare's dramatic career emphasizing theoretical and cultural issues raised by the plays in the context of the opening decade of James I's culturally divisive reign.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: GBLS 1F90, one ENGL credit numbered 1(alpha)90 to 1(alpha)99 or permission of the instructor.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in GBLS (ENGL) 2F97 and 2Q93.
#GBLS 2P82
Shakespeare's Comedies
(also offered as ENGL 2P82)
Representative comedies and tragicomedies emphasizing the variety of Shakespeare's comic modes, from the grotesque to the miraculous, and on theoretical approaches to the comic.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: GBLS 1F90, one ENGL credit numbered 1(alpha)90 to 1(alpha)99 or permission of the instructor.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in GBLS (ENGL) 2F97 and 2Q94.
#GBLS 2P83
Shakespeare's Tragedies
(also offered as ENGL 2P83)
Shakespeare's development of tragedy as a genre in the context of early modern aesthetic and cultural concerns. Attention to recent theoretical approaches.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: GBLS 1F90, one ENGL credit numbered 1(alpha)90 to 1(alpha)99 or permission of the instructor.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in GBLS (ENGL) 2F97 and 2Q95.
#GBLS 2P91
Political Theory I
(also offered as POLI 2P91)
Socratic origins of political philosophy as understood by Plato and Aristotle. May include their Christian, Jewish Islamic successors and Machiavelli's critique.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: GBLS 1F90, or one POLI credit numbered 1(alpha)90 to 1(alpha)99.
Note: strongly recommended that students have taken POLI 2P92.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in POLI 2F90.
GBLS 2P94
Great Books Seminar II - Epics and Ethics: Journeys of Self-Discovery
Works of art, literature, biography, autobiography, philosophy and theology from the classical period to the late 16th century concerned with concepts of responsibility to self and to society. Readings include Augustine, Dante, Machiavelli, Vasari and Marlowe.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: GBLS 1F90 or permission of the Director.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in GBLS 2F90.
#GBLS 2P99
Ideas and Culture before 1850
(also offered as HIST 2P99)
Major developments in European intellectual and cultural life, such as the Renaissance, the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, Romanticism, and the emergence of modern ideologies.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to GBLS, HIST (single or combined) and HIST (Honours)/BEd (Intermediate/Senior) majors and minors until date specified in Registration guide.
#GBLS 2Q90
Art in Revolution: 1750-1851
(also offered as INTC 2P90 and VISA 2P90)
Art's role and function within the paradigm shifts of the modern world, its relation to politics, social and cultural change. Neoclassicism and the principal movements leading up to the French Revolution and beyond, Romanticism, Realism and the Industrial Revolution.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: INTC (INTL) 1F90, VISA 1Q98 (minimum 60 percent) and 1Q99 (minimum 60 percent) (1F98) or permission of the instructor.
#GBLS 2Q91
Modernism, Modernity and Contemporaneity: 1851-1907
(also offered as INTC 2P91 and VISA 2P91)
Thematic examination of individuality, contemporaneity and progress in the context of technological changes.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: INTC (INTL) 1F90, VISA 1Q98 (minimum 60 percent) and 1Q99 (minimum 60 percent) (1F98) or permission of the instructor.
#GBLS 2Q98
The Artistic Experience
(also offered as PHIL 2Q98 and VISA 2Q98)
Classical theories of art through analysis of painting, photography, video, film, music, and drama examining such concepts as beauty, creativity, artistic intention, perception, interpretation and the nature and possible role of art.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one PHIL credit or VISA 1Q98 and 1Q99 (1F98) or permission of the instructor.
#GBLS 3F01
The Ancient Epic Tradition
(also offered as CLAS 3F01)
Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Apollonius Rhodius' Argonautica, Vergil's Aeneid and Ovid's Metamorphoses. Topics include the conventions of epic, the original oral transmission of heroic verse and its transformation into a written genre, concepts of heroic conduct and character.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one credit from ENGL or GBLS, or one credit from CLAS 1P91, 1P92, 1P95, 1P97.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in CLAS 3P00.
#GBLS 3P00
Ideas and Culture since 1850
(also offered as HIST 3P00)
Intellectual and cultural developments in Europe and America during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to GBLS, HIST (single or combined) and HIST (Honours)/BEd (Intermediate/Senior) majors and minors until date specified in Registration guide.
Prerequisites: one HIST credit numbered 1(alpha)90 to 1(alpha)99 and one HIST credit numbered 2(alpha)00 to 2(alpha)99 or permission of the instructor.
GBLS 3P60
Art II: Counter-Traditions and the Contemporary World
Reactions against tradition in modern and postmodern art, literature, philosophy, and critical theory, offering students the opportunity to re-imagine artistic and literary classics.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
GBLS 3P90
Great Books Seminar III: Power, Reason and Imagination
Important works of art, literature, philosophy, science and theology from the 16th through the 19th centuries that shaped our understanding of social order and creativity.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
GBLS 3P93
Origins of Life
Important works of science, art, literature, philosophy addressing the origin of life and the nature of our species' relationship with our planet. Readings include selections from the Bible, Aristotle, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Mary Shelley, Charles Darwin, Aldous Huxley, Stephen Jay Gould, E. O. Wilson, and Richard Dawkins.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: consult the instructor regarding permission to register.
#GBLS 3P94
Literary Criticism
(also offered as ENGL 3P94)
Literary criticisms from Aristotle to Brooks and Leavis emphasizing enduring literary critical problems.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisites: two ENGL credits numbered 2(alpha)00 to 2(alpha)99 or permission of the instructor.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in GBLS (ENGL) 3F93.
#GBLS 3P95
Aesthetics of Music
(also offered as MUSI 3P95)
Issues of meaning, beauty, value, and greatness in music through analysis of selected readings from Aristoxenus to the present.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: permission of the instructor.
Prerequisites: MUSI 1F50; MUSI 2F90 or GBLS 2P94.
#GBLS 3P99
Modern Narratives: Expressionism and Surrealism
(also offered as MLLC 3P99)
French, German, Italian and Hispanic writing dealing with Expressionist and Surrealist concerns such as revolt, emotion, dream and unconscious.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one of FREN 2F03, GERM 2F00 (2F90), ITAL 2F00, SPAN 2P20 and 2P21 (2F10) or permission of the instructor.
Note: given in English. May be counted as part of a major program in French, Italian or Spanish.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in MLLC 3P93.
GBLS 3V90-3V99
Special Topics in Great Books/Liberal Studies
Selected topics in Western or non-Western works of art, literature, philosophy, history, science and/or theology.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
GBLS 3V95
2007-2008: Forbidden Knowledge, Dangerous Art
The study of important works of art, literature, philosophy and science that were banned for religious, moral or political reasons.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
#GBLS 4P01
The Philosophy of Law
(also offered as POLI 4P01)
Traditional and contemporary accounts of law and their implications for issues of contemporary concern.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to GBLS and POLS (single or combined) majors with either a minimum of 14.0 overall credits and a minimum 70 percent major average or approval to year 4 (honours).
#GBLS 4P02
Ancient Political Theory
(also offered as POLI 4P02)
Premodern political philosophy examined in the works of Plato and Aristotle, emphasizing those features distinguishing ancient political science and philosophy from that of modernity.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to GBLS and POLS (single or combined) majors with either a minimum of 14.0 overall credits and a minimum 70 percent major average or approval to year 4 (honours).
#GBLS 4P03
Modern Political Theory
(also offered as POLI 4P03)
Modern political theory examined in selected texts. Topics may include historicism, consent, progress, equality or a selected author such as Rousseau, Kant, Hegel.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to GBLS and POLI (single or combined) majors with either a minimum of 14.0 overall credits and a minimum 70 percent major average or approval to year 4 (honours).
#GBLS 4P04
Politics and Tyranny
(also offered as POLI 4P04)
Comparative accounts of ancient and modern tyranny examined in light of the question: has political domination varied significantly in the Western tradition.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to GBLS and POLS (single or combined) majors with either a minimum of 14.0 overall credits and a minimum 70 percent major average or approval to year 4 (honours).
#GBLS 4P05
Shakespeare's Politics
(also offered as POLI 4P05)
Issues of justice; politics, law and morality; republican, monarchical and tyrannical government as explored in selected Shakespearean comedies, tragedies and histories.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to GBLS, INPE and POLI (single or combined) majors until date specified in the Registration guide. After that date open to ECUL, ENGL (single or combined) and HIST (single or combined) majors. Students must have either a minimum of 14.0 overall credits and a minimum 70 percent major average or approval to year 4 (honours).
#GBLS 4P06
Philosophy, Politics and the Family
(also offered as POLI 4P06)
Family relations and their significance for the political community as both have been treated by ancient and modern political philosophers and by contemporary feminists and their critics.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisites: POLI 2P91; POLI 2P92 or 2P93 or permission of the instructor.
#GBLS 4P07
Postmodern Political Theory
(also offered as POLI 4P07)
Perspectives on the postmodern condition in the works of selected 20th-century thinkers. Topics may include notions on the self; aesthetics and politics; reason and power; the construction of meaning.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to GBLS and POLI (single or combined) majors with either a minimum of 14.0 overall credits and a minimum 70 percent major average or approval to year 4 (honours).
#GBLS 4P09
Faith, Philosophy, and Politics
(also offered as POLI 4P09)
Examination of challenges based upon revelation to the sufficiency of unassisted human reason as a guide to human political action.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to GBLS and to POLS (single or combined) majors with either a minimum of 14.0 overall credits and a minimum 70 percent major average or approval to year 4 (honours).
GBLS 4P10
Great Books Seminar IV: Modernity
Important works of art, literature, philosophy, science and theology from the 19th and 20th centuries that address such questions as: What does it mean to be modern Is modernity to be greeted or opposed.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
GBLS 4P40
Practicum in Great Books/Liberal Studies
Independent study combined with teaching responsibility in Great Books Seminar I.
Restriction: permission of the Director.
Note: each participant will team teach for four weeks with a senior faculty member and complete a written assignment reflecting on the best pedagogical approach to the texts read, suggesting alterations and/or innovations which might enhance the learning process. Post-class discussion and analysis are central to the course. Enrolment by Application to the Director.
GBLS 4P70
Apocalypse in Literature, Art and Music
Fear and hope in the coming end of time, as portrayed by artists, writers and musicians. Focus on the long Judeo-Christian apocalyptic tradition.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
GBLS 4P99
Senior Essay and Workshop
Discussion of Great Books/Liberal Studies and issues related to the preparation of a senior essay.
Seminar, tutorial, two terms.
#GBLS 4V00-4V09
Selected Problems in Political Theory
(also offered as POLI 4V00-4V09)
Particular writer, work or theoretical problem in political philosophy examined.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to GBLS and POLS (single or combined) majors with either a minimum of 14.0 overall credits and a minimum 70 percent major average or approval to year 4 (honours).
GBLS 4V70-4V79
Text and Context
Topics in Literature and Intellectual History.
*GBLS 4V71
2007-2008: The Modern City as a Cultural Object
(also offered as HIST 4V71 and VISA 4V71)
The city as the site of modernity in literature, poetry, philosophy, social science, music, technology, architecture, art and other forms of visual culture, using Paris from 1839-1939 as a case study. Other cities to be considered include Berlin, London, New York and Vienna.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to GBLS and VISA (single and combined) majors with a minimum of 10.0 overall credits, and to HIST (single or combined) and HIST (Honours)/BEd (Intermediate/Senior) majors with approval to year 4 (honours) until date specified in the Registration guide and then open to other students